Reply to New boss uses the word retarded. Still. In 2018. At work!

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I’m in HR and I’ve received this complaint before, actually, and while I agree it’s not a word to be used in the office, I’ve not worked in an office where using it was against any rule like using the n-word is. If someone uses that, there’s sensitivity training to be done. Oddly, the word retarded is not considered insensitive or racist.

I’ve also never heard of “spirit animal” being racist either. That’s a new one to me.

What I always did when I got this complaint was just talk to the person about work appropriate language.  Most admitted that they use it so regularly that they don’t think about it or realize they said it at work.

Sometimes inappropriate things slip out. I just had to have a talk with someone whose coworker was offended she said “well f*ck me gently!” when her computer froze and she lost part of a project she hadn’t saved. She didn’t even realize she said it because she said that’s what she says at home when something goes wrong. [/quote]

I think this is sane- I've worked with a lot of people over the years who are not bad people, but don't realize what they have said is outdated and offensive. Just talking with someone without blowing it up is probably effective. My guess is she will be embarrassed that more careful in the future.

Years ago, I used the term Oriental (I'm of a generation that was on the cusp of this being an okay, then a not okay term to use)- I used it to my friend who is Asian. You know what? She gently corrected me. I was mortified and she was extremely nice because she knew I was the last person who would purposefully say something offensive or hurtful. To this day, I remember it as a good learning experience. [/quote]

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